Characterization of anti-ApApA antibodies.

Antibodies to a trinucleotide, ApApA, were prepared by injecting bovine serum albumin conjugated with ApApA into rabbits. The specificities of the antibodies were determined by estimating the inhibiton of the binding of [14C]ApApA to the antibodies by various nonradioactive mono-, oligo-, and polynucleotides, using the ammonium sulfate precipitation method. The antibodies were found to react with ApApN sequences and oligoadenylic acids, but also reacted slightly with polyadenylic acid, RNA and DNA. Significant crossreactions were observed with other oligonucleotides containing adenosine.